Lizzard Loves Blue Sky Snow Covered Vail

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Reindeer Round Up - Christmas Edition - 12/28/18 - Wonderland Express, Santa Cruise, Forza Meats, BoBo & Bump Time, Cousin Love

Whoosh. For as much as I love Christmas - this past week was a bit of a challenge. Poor Lulu was sick, first with a stomach bug, then with a cold that then led to a double ear infection. If you have littles in your life you might or might not know that sick littles = not a ton of relaxing for their grown ups. Our week of fun, food, adventures with family, Ho Ho Ho, and holly jolly quickly turned into puke, snot, screaming at family (Lulu), How Are We Going to Make It, and not so holly jolly. We did have fun. We did have some hours that were mostly scream free. We did not have a lot of naps. We did not have a lot of fully formed adult thoughts or conversations. But we did have time with family, which took some of the edge off of the Bug being so upset/uncomfortable/flat out miserable.

It was humbling to have the Christmas week not go anywhere near as I planned.....we still did all of the activities we'd hoped/planned to. Just with a lot less joy on my part. It is hard for me to enjoy myself when my littlest Bug is monkey clinging on to me while also swatting me/screaming in my ear. I'm sure that seems shocking that I wasn't having the time of my life ;) That is life though, right? Things don't go as planned. Particularly with kids involved. But they still were great. Different. Louder. Less relaxing. But still great because we were together.

Without further ado, here are some of the merry & bright moments of the past week!



What fun to see the train display at the Botanic Garden through the eyes of Lulu, Hennie & Neva!

The girls were super jazzed, Lulu kept saying "choo choo" "choo choo" which was really sweet.
These are the types of photos that truly show how sick Lulu felt :(



We all know how much Chris loves trains - I have to admit that I am beginning to fall under their holiday spell as well.

I love that we have traditions that are fun and appropriate for all 3 generations of our family, I'm pretty sure BoBo & Bump get a kick out of seeing the trains each year with the kids :)


2. Santa Cruise up at The Lake




This was our first time trying this fun experience; I loved it! The novelty of a winter time boat ride (our boat comes out of the water in October), festive lights along the way, a bit of caroling on the boat, a lakeside Santa cameo, candy canes, and just fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat!!




3. Delectable Sandwiches from Forza Meats
If you live or work in or near Glenview, run don't walk to Forza Meats. Having grown up in Glenview & watched the development of the Glen pull resources & interest away from the downtown area of my town, it makes my heart SO glad to see interesting new businesses making downtown Glenview home. I am aquainted with the guys who started the business & they seem to be quite heavily involved - in a good way :) Both were in the shop the day my mom & I popped in.

We tried 5 different sandwiches & they were all awesome. Oddly, I loved the vegetarian one - I realize that sounds ridiculous given "meat" is in the name of the business- but it was incredibly flavorful & full of different textures. Oftentimes the veggie sandwich option is a throwaway disappointment - not this one! From what we saw - you can't go wrong with the sandwiches.

My mom bought pork shoulder to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner (our "main" Christmas meal) - it was also top notch. Added bonus - one of the co-owners telling us about the farm where the pigs are raised.

I picked out some jarred delights for Chris' stocking, there were ready to bake pizzas, frozen sauces, fresh pastas, salads, olives, all sorts of delights waiting to be discovered.

Check out this new spot - I promise you won't regret it!


4. Imprint Music Concert



A classmate & close friend of Marg's is the VP of the newly formed non profit Imprint Music. They are awaiting their 501(c)3 status - but a cool idea for an organization! The group brings together alum from Glenbrook South (& maybe other places too) to perform beautiful choral concerts benefiting other nonprofits!


We grabbed dinner before the show and loved listening to Christmas carols sung by such talented people. Bonus - the concert was held at the church where I attended preschool 30+ years ago. Fun to be back in a place that I spent so much time when I was tiny!

 5. BoBo & Bump Time


There is so much to be said for the kids having time with their grandparents. My only regret is that because Lulu (& to be fair - Hennie & Neva too) really weren't feeling 100% - they were clingier than they usually are.

Wonderland Express fun with Bump & BoBo

Do you think the girls were getting tired?!?

In a normal day - the girls love to hang with BoBo & Bump. This Christmas they seemed to stick closer to mom & dad - but such is life. Thankfully they all got some time despite the germiness!
Taking a break from the ice skating adventure with BoBo
Lulu wasn't really enjoying Christmas morning - but had time for a heart to heart with Bump


6. Cousin Love






I'm not terribly close to any of my cousins, except those that live across an ocean in Ireland & Germany.


I suppose that is part of the reason it makes me so happy to see Lulu really developing relationships with her cousins.

Despite the fact that a bunch of our family got sick - the kids still really loved being together. If that isn't what this season is all about - then what is??


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